him as a partner rather than a boss. As an avid football fan, he draws heavily on sports analogies to define his leadership style, conceptualising his role as a“ player-coach”.
He says:“ I like to be on the field. I like to be part of the team. I try to guide people. But then I’ m also able, at certain moments, to move back and be the coach only, sitting on the fence, watching the team, enabling them after having led them and shown them how to do it.”
In football terminology, Kai views himself as a“ number 10”, the playmaker, rather than a defender or a striker. His job is about enabling people. He stresses that maximising value for an organisation requires a deliberate blend of cultures, personal skills and diverse backgrounds, rather than a team of identical thinkers.
While he focuses on dreaming up what tomorrow looks like, he relies on others who excel at managing current operational processes. For Kai, the true dynamic and beauty of a team lies in the multiplier effect of combining different strengths, weaknesses and beliefs to create maximum value.
The reluctant retiree In 2023, after nearly two decades in the high-intensity world of consulting, which often involved enduring 100 take-offs and landings in a single year, Kai decided it was time to step away.
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